Technical Field
This disclosure relates generally to electrochemical cells, and more particularly to wound electrochemical cells.
Background Art
The use of portable communication devices, such as mobile telephones, “smart” devices, and personal digital assistants, is becoming more and more prevalent. People today use these devices not only for communication, but also to maintain to-do lists, surf the Internet, maintain personal and business calendars, and to stay up-to-date with friends, family, and co-workers. These portable devices derive their portability from batteries. Batteries, including rechargeable batteries, allow portable devices to slip the surly bonds of wall outlets and touch the face of a world on the move.
Each battery, be it rechargeable or primary, relies on an electrochemical cell for energy storage. While there may be other components in the battery pack, including circuit boards, mechanical assemblies, protection components, charging components, fuel gauging circuits, temperature measurement circuits and indicator circuits, energy is stored and released by the electrochemical cell.
Each electrochemical cell includes a cathode and an anode. The two are electrically isolated, and offer a current path into or away from the electrochemical cell. The anode and cathode assembly are generally either wound in a “jellyroll” configuration or laminated in a stack.
There is a tension in modern electronic design between the desire to make electronic devices smaller while, at the same time, providing sufficient battery run time. Consequently, space can be limited within the housing of an electronic device. In some instances, the battery of the device dictates either the dimensions or the shape of the overall electronic device.
It would be advantageous to have a battery offering the device designer more flexibility in allocating space within an electronic device.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure.